Universidad Politécnica de Madrid Transforming European universities: the experience of the UPM Prof. Gonzalo León Vice President for Research, UPM OECD Conference Seville (Spain), February 2011 1 EXPERIENCE OF THE TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF MADRID (UPM) 21 engineering and architecture schools UPM was created in 1971 but many schools have more than 100 years: strong individual culture and autonomy 37,000 undergraduate students and 6,700 postgraduate students 2,500 PhD students (500 with full time fellowships) 3,400 faculty members 2,500 administrative and technical personnel 500 engineers hired for R&D projects 120 M contracted for R&D in 2009 60% of research was financed by external private sources 1
Policies on human resources ELEMENTS FOR THE UPM REFORM AGENDA From pre-docs to post-docs and senior researchers : open international recruitment policies Research infrastructures SYSTEMIC VISION (several aspects should be simultaneously considered) From small equipments to participation in large research facilities Strategic alliances Long-term alliances with private and public entities New regulatory framework From inter-entity research groups to fund raising or IPR regimes 3 R&D STRUCTURES PROMOTED BY THE UPM Voluntary grouping of faculty members and researchers Individual researchers 220 Grupo de de research Investigación groups (min. 6 researchers) Institutos Universitarios 14 de research Investigación, centres and Laboratorios Institutes o Centros de I+D Cooperation with other entities through specific agreements 2
LARGE INSTITUTIONAL R&D PROGRAMMES SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL INITIATIVES Strategic long-term international positioning BioTech (oriented towards biomedical engineering ) SpaceTech (oriented towards satellite platforms ) NanoTech (oriented towards nanomanufacturing ) CAMPUS OF EXCELLENCE Official recognition by the Spanish Government Campus Moncloa (with the Complutense University, UCM) Campus Montegancedo SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL PARK Moving UPM to entrepreneurship 4 sites in the region of Madrid BIOTECH UPM Multidimensional perspective Education (MSc and PhD on Biotechnology and bioengineering) Centres and scientific infrastructure (CTB,MEG, microscopy) Human resources (positions for junior and senior researchers Internationalization (Blue Brain, FP7 and other large international programmes) Agreements with external entities (hospitals, universities and companies) 3
CAMPUS OF EXCELLENCE Programme of excellence in universities created by two ministerial departments Ministry of Education + Ministry of Science and Innovation UPM has obtained a great success in 2009-2010 calls...but funding is limited to loans Campus of Moncloa with the UCM Emphasis on scientific knowledge in 5 clusters Campus of Montegancedo Emphasis on open innovation in ICT and biotechnology UPM priorities are progressively related to these areas SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL PARK Mainly devoted to create new research centres and technology transfer and entrepreneurship support (based on loans from Spanish Governments) R&D structures UPM Centers for R&D Service structures 70 Ha, 4 sites Management Test Labs & Industrial trials Joint Centers for R&D Research Institutes Focus on multidisciplinar centres UPM s Park governance Strategic Direction Support to innovation UPM s Spin-offs Research support centres 4
UPM SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL PARK Valdelacasa (Alcobendas) Montegancedo (Pozuelo de Alarcón) Coordination Structure (supported by the FGUPM) Campus Sur (Madrid) Part of the Campus of Excellence Tecno-Getafe (Getafe) Management independence level L3 + UPM SUPPORT FOR OPEN INNOVATION Location of R&D facilities of private firms Roadmap for action: Strategic alliances with private firms L2 Location of spin-offs in university business incubators Licenses for knowledge and technology exploitation Creation of joint entities with the private sector for research and innovation L1 Development of contract-research activities Agreements for temporal use of space or equipments in University premises University commitment + 10 5
LESSONS LEARNED Diversity of universities should be preserved Universities should decide on their own priorities Institutional approaches and governmental programmes should differ UPM has defined institutional tools to address goals not covered by individual schools based on top down priorities and focus of resources Extensive use of Governmental programmes to improve competitiveness too early to assess the success... but there is a need for policy experimentation 11 6